Yangtze River Daily Wuhan client, January 8 (reporter Wan Jianhui) "A rescue excavation found a mysterious princely state that is not recorded in the history books, who is the so-called Zeng Houyi in the inscription? Who owns the magnificent chimes? At 8 p.m. on January 8, the CCTV comprehensive channel "China Archaeology Conference" program focused on Zeng Guo, exploring the tomb of Zeng Hou in Hubei Province, hidden behind historical documents.
The historical trajectory of Zeng Guo from "left and right Wenwu" to "left and right Chu kings"
Show scene. Screenshot of reporter Wan Jianhui
"China Archaeological Conference" is a cultural program jointly produced by the Central Radio and Television Corporation, the National Bureau of Cultural Relics and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which focuses on major archaeological discoveries, cultural relics, and relics in the century-old course of Chinese archaeology, fuses archaeological excavation research and Shi Hai hooks into one furnace, organically combines history and contemporary, and sorts out the historical context of the origin and development of Chinese civilization. The programme premiered on CCTV's General Channel every Saturday at 20:00 from 20 November 2021.
During the program time of more than one hour, Wang Duanduan, host of the "Chinese Archaeological Conference", Zhang Xilin, an archaeologist, Fang Qin, director of the Hubei Provincial Museum, and Guo Changjiang, a researcher at the Hubei Archaeological Research Institute, revealed the mystery of the identity of the Zeng family, the relationship between Zeng Guo and Chu and other neighboring countries, and the excavation and multiple values of Zeng Houyi chimes through rich and vivid program forms.
Fang Qin, director of Hubei Provincial Museum. Screenshot of reporter Wan Jianhui
Fang Qin, director of the Hubei Provincial Museum and director of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told the Yangtze River Daily that the recording time of this program was in late September 2021, before the CCTV program team came to Hubei to check materials and shoot cultural relics. This program is based on his book "History and Culture of Zeng Guo", whose historical trajectory ranges from "left and right Wenwu" to "left and right Chu kings".
Fang Qin introduced that Zeng Guo was one of the princely states of the Zhou dynasty surnamed Zhou Wang, and was a fiefdom of zhou tianzi assigned to the descendants of the Nangong clan, also known as the fiefdom of the Nangong Gong, which was subject to the feudal state in Hanshui. Zeng Guo, also known as Suiguo in the history books, existed from about the Western Zhou Chengkang period to the end of the Warring States period, a total of more than 700 years.
The first feudal monarch of the State of Zeng was a descendant of Nangong Kuo, who successively assisted King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou, and was divided by King Cheng of Zhou for his outstanding merits; the establishment of the State of Zeng was an important part of the Western Zhou Dynasty's grand strategy of managing the south, and realized the effective control of the Zhou Dynasty over the Jianghan region.
Fang Qin introduced that the history of Zeng Guo is rarely found in the literature handed down from generation to generation, and the latest research on the Late Shang Western Zhou Cemetery in Yejiashan, Suizhou, found that the zeng state in the early Western Zhou Dynasty only existed in the drifting water basin of Suizhou, but as the state of E was destroyed by Zhou Tianzi, the state of Zeng quickly expanded to northern Han and the Xinye area of Henan, becoming the largest country in eastern Han that replaced the state of E. The State of Zeng gradually submitted to the State of Chu from the early Days of Zhou Tianzi to the later period, until it was destroyed by the State of Chu, that is, from "Left and Right Wenwu" to "Left and Right Chu King".
Judging from the comprehensive archaeological discoveries: in the early Western Zhou Dynasty, there was the Suizhou Yejiashan West Zhou Cemetery, the two-week period there was the Zengguo Cemetery of the Sujialang Cultural Site in Jingshan City, in the early Spring and Autumn period there was the tomb of The Marquis Zeng of the Xiangyang Guojia Temple, in the middle of the Spring and Autumn period there was the tomb of the Marquis Zeng of the Suizhou Jujube Forest, in the Warring States Period there was the tomb of the Marquis of Suizhou, and in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Suizhou Wenfeng Pagoda, it can be determined that there is indeed a Zengguo in the same lineage. From the early Western Zhou Dynasty to the middle warring states, the tombs of Zeng Hou spanned more than 700 years, distributed in Nanyang City, Henan Province, Suizhou City, Hubei Province, Xiangyang City, Jingmen City and other areas, which can glimpse the area controlled by Zeng Guo (Sui Guo) in history.
Chimes orange and yellow color stunning program guests
In the program, a video of the excavation of Zeng Houyi chimes was broadcast. Screenshot of reporter Wan Jianhui
The program mentions that the "Zuo Chuan" records that "the kingdoms of eastern Han are large", and other documents also record that the country east of the Han River is Suiguo, why are the excavated bronze inscriptions recorded as Zeng Guo? Guo Changjiang, a researcher at the Hubei Institute of Archaeology, is the leader of the relevant archaeological sites, and he uses multiple examples in the program to show that he once accompanied a country.
For example, the archaeological discovery of the tomb of Qijia Zenghou bao, the wife of Marquis Bao of Qijia Zeng, the bronze artifact unearthed in her tomb has the text "Chu Wang's wife with Zhongqi Jia", which means that the second daughter of the King of Chu married into Suiguo, and the bronze inscription in the tomb of Zeng Houbao, the husband of Qijia, records that she is a Zenghou.
In another example, the State of Wu captured the capital of the State of Chu, and King Chu Zhao fled to the State of Zeng, and the Zuo Biography records that King Chu Zhao fled to Suiguo, and the excavated bronze inscription also records this incident, saying that he fled to the State of Zeng.
Guo Changjiang said: It can be seen from this that Zeng Hou claimed to be Zeng Guo, but other countries called Zeng Guo Sui Guo, and the literature records called Zeng Guo Sui Guo.
The program also reflects that Zengguo bronzes are particularly rich, and in recent years, the excavated bronzes have reached 10 tons, with bronze resources and bronze transportation routes, and the excavated inscriptions record "Jindao Tin Line".
Feng Guangsheng, president of the Chimes Research Institute. Screenshot of reporter Wan Jianhui
The program invited Feng Guangsheng, president of the Zenghou Yi Chimes Research Institute, to tell the story of the excavation on the spot, and the screen played the real orange and yellow color of the chimes, and the crimson dragon patterns of the chimes and beams, and the guests on the scene of the program invariably issued praises. Feng Guangsheng introduced that when Zhou Tianzi divided the princes, in addition to dividing the land, they also sealed different chimes that conformed to the status level of the princes, so the chimes had the role of status status, Guangzong Yaozu, and Biao Bing's meritorious service.
【Editor: Deng Laxiu】
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